Day 6
by parmakai66
Summary: One wanted Rodney to stay the same. Another wanted to bring him back. AU of The Shrine.


Day Six:

Timeline: Season 5: The Shrine.

Author's Note: This is the **AU version** of The Shrine. While it follows most of the actual episode events - the story has a different perspective than the canon version. Please keep that in mind while reading. Thank you.

Disclaimer: No Infringement intended.

The glow of the computer was the only light in the room and it illuminated his face like a character from the Rocky Horror Picture show. _Mr movie buff would probably dig that,_ John chuckled as he hit the fast forward button on the keyboard. Nothing about this situation was anything to laugh at. Day one, two, three, five, seven, nine, fourteen, the day didn't really matter because all the videos had the same eerie quality about them. His best friend had the starring role yet at times Sheppard could barely recognize him. In one clip, Rodney McKay was lucid and as normal as Rodney could be. In the next, the man behind the Rodney facade was a complete stranger.

The images creeped him out. They were a chronological record of McKay's deterioration during the course of this thing that gripped him. John didn't need a video to remind him his friend was losing his mind, he was living it. The team stayed at Rodney's side most of each day to lend support and give him comfort. It wasn't easy, but that was the breaks of being his friend; leaving him to his misery wasn't an option.

The deterioration was swift and everyday another piece of Rodney was gone. Some days John caught it before the doctor did. Other times he barely even noticed. The videos that Rodney was making to track his decline hid nothing from those that were watching. And John watched them all, every day, even though some days it killed him inside. Watching was how he knew, how he discovered the deception.

It was easy for everyone to buy into her spiel because she was the medical expert. Doctor Jennifer Keller knew how to craft her message and spin the terminology to make it all seem real. John was even starting to accept it and believe that she was just on the cusp of figuring it all out. It was Rodney himself who had tipped John off that things might not have been what they seemed. _Not that Rodney even knew what he was saying,_ John reminded himself as he paused the feed at the spot in question.

John was dubious of Keller from the start of Rodney's illness but he convinced himself that he was letting the _future_ Rodney's story affect his judgement. For days he tried to quell that sick feeling that was gurgling in his gut. And that worked until the other night on the pier when Rodney went off on a one of his legendary tangents. John did what he always did when Rodney went off like that, he listened. And listening sent his spidey-sense into red alert.

He told no one of his covert investigation until it was done. It took a full day of snooping around the infirmary and hacking into Keller's laptop. (a skill he had picked up from McKay) John prayed he was just over reacting, but he wasn't. The results were exactly what he had suspected and exactly what he had hoped wasn't true.

John ran his hand over the back of his neck and sighed heavily. He slapped down the lid of the laptop and pushed back his chair. "This is the part of command that I hate."

* * *

The conversation wasn't going well. Keller tried to dress it up with medical techno babble. Her circular conversation covered the research, the treatments and how close she was to getting a handle on it, understanding it, fixing it. It was the same jargon that had lulled the team into the false sense of security about Rodney's well being. It was all very convincing, and to the casual observer, very credible.

Forcing himself to remain in command mode, _Lieutenant Colonel_ John Sheppard saw through that smoke screen. It didn't matter how she colored her words or how she tried to spin it, the speech was merely a cover. Keller was defensive, guarded and argumentative and clearly hiding her true actions and feelings. It was an affirmation that Jennifer's judgment was compromised and she wasn't acting as an impartial medical advocate anymore.

Sheppard pursed his lips and exhaled slowly. _I should have taken Woolsey up on his offer to confront her together._ He decided to go at it from a different angle. He held his hand up to stop the lip service she was giving him. "Jennifer, stop. I know about the video clip."

Keller stopped talking mid-sentence and her mouth gaped open. A stunned expression and the flush of embarrassment crept across her skin. "What?"

"Day six," John replied flatly.

He watched a gamut of emotions ripple across Keller's face. Busted. Jennifer had previously asserted there was no video from day six because she _forgot_ to make time to record it. Blaming the lasp to the heavy caseload in the infirmary that day, the team bought the excuse because the chaos hadn't been confined to just that side of the base. _And why would the Chief Medical Officer lie?_ She would have gotten away scott clean if Rodney hadn't confessed to John about making a regretful declaration during one of his video clips. A video that Sheppard hadn't seen yet Rodney was adamant that it did indeed exist. Physical evidence that fueled all speculation. That was all the ammo John needed to make all of Rodney's medical case file his business. Calling the CMO out on it and seeing her shocked reaction was priceless.

She said nothing for a second as she contemplated what story she was going to tell. Finally she looked at the floor and answered him in a whisper. "It was personal."

Not expecting Keller to crumble so easily, John crafted his response. His tone was stern and direct. "There is no such thing as personal when you're the Chief Medical Officer of two hundred man expedition."

"You don't understand," Jennifer countered but again Sheppard cut her off short.

"Rodney signed the confidentiality waiver to have all the videos shared with the command staff. He made that decision when he still had the ability to do so." John rested his hands on his hips and stared at her in one of his signature pissed off glares. "You had an obligation to retain it as part of the permanent record."

"It wasn't part of the ….," Keller again tried to argue and when she looked up into Sheppard's death glare she muttered. "One day wasn't going to matter."

"Every day that Rodney is alive matters. Everything he does, everything he says matter," John remarked crisply. "Keeping it from us … hiding it the way that you did….it just made it look… ."

"Like I've lost my objectivity?" Jen retorted finding her voice finally. "That's what you think isn't it? That I'm thinking with my heart instead of my head? You know what? I am thinking with both! I'm doing everything I can to find a cure for him because he is my friend."

"You're not doing everything you can to save him Doctor." Using her title instead of her name kept this conversation sterile. Official. Not jumbled in the emotion that she was killing his friend. And then suddenly the reason why she was doing this hit him. "You're being overprotective and controlling. And honestly….I think you'd like to keep him this way because he's being nice to you. Because you really like him. Romantically and Rodney is too caught up in his world to even notice...until now. He's practically purring like a kitten in your lap. And that dependency makes you happy."

"What?" Jennifer balked. She threw her hands up in the air and paced across the small office. "That is about one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard." She ran her hand over her brow and the snapped around to face the military leader again. "This is because I won't let you take him to some wraith infested planet to chase down a childhood fantasy of Ronon's?"

When she put it like that, it did sound a little hokey. John shook his head. "This is about hiding official documents in a world where nothing is ever truly erased. And your decision to not be open to alternative therapies because it will affect the long term outcome of your relationship with McKay."

Ignoring his accusation that she lied and impeded McKay's treatment, she fired back, "he doesn't even understand the implications of going there!" Jennifer crossed her arms at her chest. "He trusts you John and he'd follow you anywhere if you said it was safe."

"That's exactly right. He. Trusts. Me." John over enunciated each word and pointed at his chest as he said them. "Because I don't lie to him. I don't play games or color up the language with words he can't comprehend."

"Excuse me? I'm not the one playing games." Her tone was laced with contempt. "He only wants to go with you because he thinks you're cool."

 _What?_ John nearly wanted to laugh at her. Rodney thought a lot of things about Sheppard but cool wasn't really one of them. "You say that as if I'm trying to lead him straight of a cliff to his death."

"I'd like to see you try to prove that you're not," Jennifer mumbled under her breath suddenly feeling a bit bold. "You were baiting him."

"Uh ah. Don't talk to me about baiting him. I already know the risks of going there and have a plan in place to ensure a successful outcome," John said waving his finger at her. "You, on the other hand, are playing games with his mind which makes you dangerous. Rodney has a very small circle of people he trusts right now and your little _if you leave Atlantis I won't be able to help you_ speech, severely jeopardizes that. You accuse me of playing with his security? I would give my life to defend him and I will do whatever it takes to save him. But you? You are being manipulative and controlling and that is counterproductive to how an objective medical professional should be acting."

The hurt expression on Keller's face told Sheppard he hit the nail right on the head. She didn't like to be told about herself. Carson had said as much in the last staff evaluation notes he had made about Jennifer so it was no big surprise.

"Rodney would have wanted to take the chance to go there if it meant getting his sanity back for even one….."

"I doubt it," Jennifer interrupted him. "I know how humiliating this was to him. Losing his memory, forgetting who he was. He just wanted it to be over and he would have thought going to the planet was tort…..."

"Don't tell me you think you know him better," John said loudly talking over her. "Rodney and I have been friends far longer than you've been assigned to this base. We've been through hell and back together. He made a point to figure out a way to save my ass from the future. So I think I'm in a better position to know exactly what he would have wanted."

"Okay fine. But he didn't give you power of attorney to make those decisions for him. As the chief medical officer on the base it's my …."

"As the Chief Medical Officer or the woman that's infatuated with him?"

"That's out of line," Jen muttered with an incredulous expression on her face.

John gave her the silent stare down. It wasn't out of line. It was a spot on observation. After a second, he countered in his signature pissed off tone. "You know as well as I do that sometimes in this galaxy we need to take a more unconventional approach when saving people."

"And I am considering other options, but not to a mythical shrine with magical powers," Jen fired back.

"A few months ago when your life was on the line I didn't think twice about what needed to be done to save you."

"Yes and thank you," Jen nodded. "Quite honestly, I don't think I would have made the same decision," she muttered looking away at the wall. Thinking for a moment that John was softening in his stance she added, "Everyone on my staff is considering other options, John. But someone needs to be the voice of reason and think logically about what is truly in Rodney's best interest."

"Well, finally that's something we agree on. There is only one person that can make those decisions for Rodney and be his advocate. Woolsey is contacting his next of kin as we speak. The Daedalus will transport Jeannie to Atlantis."

Taken back that Woolsey would go over her head and contact McKay's sister without telling her, Jen stammered over her response. "That will take three weeks. He doesn't have that long. At best he has ten days."

"Ten days?" John felt anger flush over his face and his jaw muscles clench. "When we you planning on telling us that?"

"I was hoping…I haven't given up and I think…. I'm close…."

"You gave up the minute you hid day six," John said curtly. He turned on his heel and strode of her office. _Woolsey was right, we should have blown the tower when that thing was growing out of her._

* * *

"Any questions?" John asked as he scanned the faces at the conference table. Ronon, Teyla, Woolsey, Greggs and Thomas all shared a glance and shook their heads.

"It's all pretty clear Colonel," Captain Thomas answered for the group. "Greggs, Smith, Bartels and I will deploy with the jumper. I'll have a team get the MALP ready. It should take say … ninety minutes."

"Great," Sheppard said as his eyes settled on the one person in the room that was refusing to acknowledge him. "Doctor Keller is there anything you'd like to add?" While he was extending an invitation for her to speak her peace, Sheppard's tone sent the message that he didn't really want to hear her voice. Keller heard it loud and clear and after a few seconds of silence, he continued, "okay, we'll launch in tee minus one twenty."

Sheppard pushed back from the table and stood, releasing the team from the conference room. He watched the cadre filter out and even caught the sneer Ronon gave Keller as he passed her. Things hadn't been very social between Ronon and Keller since she had rebuffed his advances. Her reluctance to go out on a limb for McKay didn't help much to mend fences. Soon the room was empty with the exception of Dr. Keller and Colonel Sheppard got it that he wasn't going to get away clean.

"Something you'd like to add?" John asked as a heavy tension settled between them.

Keller swallowed hard and finally met his eyes. "I would like to go. You'll need me…"

"Lieutenant Greggs is going," Sheppard replied curtly.

"Greggs is a medic," Keller argued. "If something happens that's more complex than a paper cut, you're going to wish the CMO was there."

Finding it ironic that Keller was dismissing the Lieutenant's credentials because he chose to be a ranger and served in the sand instead of taking a six figure cushy private practice job. John rested his hands on his hips and glared at her. "Greggs has a medical degree that is no different than yours. I think he can handle it."

Keller didn't like that response and looked like she was about to blow a gasket. As sadistic as it was, John wanted Keller to squirm and beg for this. It was payback for the discussion two days ago when she admitted not once, but twice that she had lied to them. As for her status on the mission, Woolsey had already cleared her to go, despite Sheppard's protests. John only relented because Jeannie had requested it. That's why Sheppard had assigned Gregg's to the captain's team. Greggs was a medical specialist and would know exactly when Keller was trying to blow smoke up their asses.

Jen bit her lip and looked down at the table top. "Look I know you've lost your confidence in me … but I need to be there John. As Rodney's doctor and as… his friend. I want to be able to say goodbye like the rest of you, one last time."

John was quiet for a moment as he held her gaze. The tears brimming in her eyes were nearly making him feel guilty for taking it too this level. "Fine. Be ready to go at thirteen hundred hours."

* * *

John never knew what real relief was like until that second that Rodney transformed from the babbling child-like persona to his normal self. He never realized how much he missed the arrogant snappy rudeness that defined his closest friend until something he could barely understand had snatched it all away. So when Keller made the correlation between the shrine's radiation and McKay's recovery and then made the declaration that she needed to operate to save him, John got that sick feeling again in his gut.

Of course it wasn't there for the same reason. While he was excited about the possibility of saving his friend, he knew it would come at a cost and Keller didn't disappoint. The surgery was a great idea until John informed her there was no way they could go back to Atlantis to get her gear. Then the argumentative, deceptive, manipulative side of Keller exposed itself quickly.

Glancing toward Greggs and seeing the lieutenant throw the bullshit sign, John tried to yank Keller back to reality. "Okay what do you need?"

"I've already told you…" she started to argue, immediately defensive.

"No, bare minimum what do you need?" John interrupted her abruptly. Keller was used to a tidy medical facility not the pocket knife, fishing line and duct tape environment of a combat field medic.

"I'd need a scanner to track the parasite, lights, oxygen, something to cut into his skull," Keller stammered making her list.

John made a mental checklist of the gear in the jumper and calculated the risk in his head. "Okay, I have an idea. Keep him as far from that thing as he can stand," he said pointing in Ronon and Teyla's direction. "We'll be back in twenty minutes. Greggs," Sheppard made eye contact with the lieutenant and that's all the direction Greggs needed to know what Sheppard expected of him. John appreciated the simplicity of that unspoken understanding because Keller wasn't going to make it that easy.

The climb down the rock face and run to the jumper was quick. John knew exactly what gear he needed and how long it would take to assemble it. Greggs had obviously made his own mental list because as soon as the hatch was down the lieutenant went right for the cargo nets that held the light stands.

Keller stood off the to side awkwardly and watched as the two military men methodically went to work. When she saw Sheppard start to shove a cordless drill in a backpack she nearly shrieked. "I can't operate with … you can't be serious."

"Why not? I've seen medical drills, they aren't that different from this," Sheppard answered her firmly. He looked Keller dead in the eye and could see the argument building inside her head.

"Fine assuming we can open him up, I'll have no way of knowing where the parasite has contracted too," she stammered.

"Colonel," Greggs called and tossed the Life Signs Detector at him. "We can use that."

"A life signs detector?" Keller guffawed. "How is that going to help?"

"McKay can modify it to track the parasite," Greggs remarked going back to pulling the gear.

"That's a little morbid," Keller replied under her breath. "Seriously, you don't understand. The radiation is compromising Rodney's immune system. If I don't kill him drilling into his skull with that household drill, the infection that he'll get and the damp environment of the cave will."

"Look! If we don't do something, he's as good as dead," John remarked sharply. "You said it yourself."

"I can't operate under these conditions," Jen muttered falling into her own self-pity well.

"You can't or you won't?" Sheppard questioned her. "You're the one that brought it up! You were confident in the cave that you could do it."

"If I had the right equipment," she muttered. She darted her eyes anywhere in the jumper to avoid looking at Sheppard. "Greggs you can't possibly think this can work."

"We need to make it work Doctor," Greggs replied confidently. "I've worked under worse condition in the sandbox with success."

"Yeah, right," Jennifer mumbled not very convinced.

"It's not going to get any better than this, Doc," John said. Not having anymore time to waste to reel her back in, he went for the personal angle. He reached out and pulled her chin to face him and leveled his eyes on her, drilling in the seriousness of the situation. Switching from using her name instead of her title, Sheppard sent a new message that had a bit of a softer edge. "I know you're scared Jennifer. We all are, but if there is any chance we can save Rodney's life we need to take it. You were trained to do this. Greggs is trained to help you and I'll do whatever it takes to save Rodney."

* * *

The week after they returned with a perfectly healthy Rodney McKay, John found Jennifer sitting her office in the dark. Her face was illuminated by the computer monitor in front of her. He recognized the dialogue of day six playing quietly in the background. He stood to the side of the doorway and watched a small smile crawl across her face as McKay professed his love to her.

John contemplated walking away. He didn't really want to be here or have any conversation with Keller because he was still pissed at her. Plain and simple, she let her personal feelings for McKay influence her medical objectivity in his treatment so much so that it nearly cost McKay's life. She did the same thing during her treatment of Dr. Weir and her actions ultimately were a factor in losing the expedition leader to the replicators. Woolsey and John weren't willing to bet another team member's life on Dr. Keller's actions and for once the IOA agreed.

He trailed his eyes around her small office and noticed the packing crates stacked to the side of the desk and her luggage sitting nearby. Glancing at his watch, he noted she still had a few minutes to the dial out. It suddenly made sense why she was hiding in this office watching the video over and over. She was trying to freeze the moment in time because she couldn't take the recordings with her. This incident had changed everything.

Woolsey had relieved Jennifer of her duties as soon as they returned to base that day. Teyla tried to remain supportive but Ronon couldn't stomach even looking at her. And Rodney was no longer her purring pet. His brush with death made him very cognizant of who was and wasn't looking out for his best interests in his moment of need and he took the appropriate actions with the naysayers when they got back.

John exhaled slowly as he scrambled on how to break the silence. Knowing that two marines were standing just down the hall waiting to take her things to the gate room, John decided to get a move on.

"That's a sad smile if I ever saw one," he said as he walked toward her desk. He winced at how stupid it sounded. It didn't go unnoticed that Jennifer quickly shut the computer to hide the evidence. She didn't look happy to see him.

"The dial out isn't for another thirty minutes," she muttered to detract the attention away from herself.

"I know, I just wanted to see if you needed help moving the last of your things," John said tapping his hand nervously on the desk top.

"Wow, offering to help. You must be in a hurry to get rid of me," Jen chuckled with that tone that wasn't really funny. "Walking me out of the base to make sure I don't steal or sabotage anything as I leave?"

"I wouldn't say that," John said hesitantly. "The offer for help is genuine." It wasn't a lie. He could have assigned one of the captains to manage the whole thing but John felt that he needed to take care of it personally. "I don't hate you Jennifer. Disappointed mayh…..."

"You were right," she interrupted looking everywhere but at him again.

"Wah?" John mumbled, not catching what she said because she said it so fast he wasn't sure he heard her right.

She turned her head to look him in the eye. "My objectivity was compromised. You were right about that and about Rodney being … my wanting Rodney to need me. I watched this video of day six a lot. Probably too much and with Rodney's condition deteriorating I just thought wouldn't it be nice if he would just stay like that …" She closed her eyes for a second. "It sounds ridiculous when I vocalize it."

"Like Munchausen by proxy?" John said impressed with himself that he even remembered the name of that syndrome.

"Yeah," Keller mumbled. "Probably why I was so insistent on using the nanites to cure Dr. Weir because I needed her guidance after losing Carson… I just…." she paused for a second and a tear fell down her cheek. "...bad decisions."

"Well, everyone makes mistakes," he commented trying to minimize the moment because he wasn't good with women crying in front of him. For a second he wondered if he was too hard on Keller during this situation. His own slate wasn't the cleanest in the questionable judgement department. "Living with them and not letting them consume you is the trick."

"Yeah, I guess I'll have to learn about the balance with that." Jen took her earpiece off and tossed it on the desktop with her keys for the medicine cabinet. "Thank you Colonel," Jen said catching him off guard.

"For what?"

"For kicking me in the pants when I needed it," she said flatly. "I'm not sure anyone else could have pushed me to do that surgery out there."

A couple of responses flashed through his head and his mouth formed words that never made it to his tongue. Finally he just went for simple because nothing else sounded right. "Your welcome."

An awkward silence passed between them and it was a few seconds before either of them blinked. Twenty seconds to be exact and Jennifer walked around the desk and headed out of the room. Sheppard followed and once in the hall, motioned for the Marines to get the crates. _Yeah, this is another part of the job I hate,_ he thought as he stepped up to Keller's side to walk her out. _But that's the breaks._ _At least I have Rodney back._

The end


End file.
